Rachel Policar

Soprano

About Rachel Policar

Soprano Rachel Policar is a native of Seattle, Washington. She is currently starring as Goldele in 'The Golden Bride' with the National Yiddish Theatre Folksbiene, her Off-Broadway debut! This past summer, she gave her first performances as Gilda in Rigoletto with the Asheville Lyric Opera and the Janiec Opera Company, with which she also performed Kate and covered the title role of Baby Doe in Moore's The Ballad of Baby Doe. She began the 2015 season as Emmie in Albert Herring with the Bronx Opera, a company debut. She performed in concert with the Riverside Opera Company and Richmond County Orchestra on Staten Island, singing excerpts from Rigoletto and The Wizard of Oz, and was featured in the Asheville Lyric Opera Winter Gala, singing excerpts from Rigoletto and Candide. She was awarded 2nd place in the 5 Towns Music and Arts Foundation Competition, and was a semi-finalist in the Joy In Singing Competition. She joins the roster of the Knoxville Opera in January 2016 as a Resident Artist, singing Gretel in their education outreach production of Hansel and Gretel.

In 2014, she joined the Utah Festival Opera and Musical Theatre as a Festival Artist, covering the role of Cosette in Les Miserables and Kathie in Romberg's The Student Prince. A 2014 Resident Artist with the Dayton Opera, she made her professional debut as Gretel in Humperdinck's Hansel and Gretel, and also had the pleasure of performing in two different outreach productions - Once Upon an Opera, an original show by Katie Pees Arber and Malcolm Fox's Sid the Serpent who Wanted to Sing as The Clown. The Artists In Residence performed in multiple concerts and events in the greater Dayton area, and Rachel was invited to be a Guest Judge for the 2014 Dayton Opera Guild Competition - High School Division.

In the summer of 2013, Rachel was a part of the Janiec Opera Company at the Brevard Music Festival in North Carolina. She performed the role of Valencienne in Lehar's The Merry Widow, covered the role of Nannetta in Verdi's Falstaff, and was a member of the original cast for the world premiere of Michael Ching's Speed Dating Tonight. She also performed in scenes as Lucia (Lucia di Lamermoor) and Violetta (La Traviata).

Prior to Brevard, Rachel won the 2013 New York Lyric Opera Theatre National Vocal Competition as well as the 2013 Ladies Musical Club of Seattle Competition. In 2013, she was seen as Doralice (cover performance) in the New York premiere of Scarlatti's Il Trionfo dell'Onore with Underworld Productions Opera (with whom she was also a Resident Artist) and as the title character in the world premiere of Liebovar, a new work by Michael Dutka - performed with the Brooklyn Philharmonic Orchestra at The Cathedral of St. John the Divine in a concert commemorating the 70th Anniversary of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising (in collaboration with the Interfaith Committee of Remembrance). She was an original cast member in the world premiere of The Boston Tea Party Opera by M. Zachary Johnson, performed in New York City at the 13th Street Repertory Theatre.

Rachel is a graduate of the Manhattan School of Music with her Master of Music degree in Classical Voice. While at MSM, she was seen as Gretel in Humpderdinck's Hansel and Gretel, Miss Wordsworth in Britten's Albert Herring with the Scenes Program, Le Feu/La Princesse/Le Rossignol in Ravel's L'enfant et les sortileges, and as Berna-nutte the Squirrell, a role she helped write and create in a children's adaptation of The Secret Garden with the Discover Opera Ensemble run by Mark Janas. She was also member of the Contemporary Opera Ensemble while at MSM, under the baton of Miriam Charney.

Rachel attended Arizona State University, where she earned concurrent degrees in both Vocal Performance and Musical Theatre under the tutelage of David Britton. While at ASU she performed the role of Flora in Britten's Turn of the Screw for which she was nominated by the ariZONI Award panel as "Best Actress in a Supporting Role" for her performance. Other role highlights at ASU include Yvonne/Naomi in Sondheim's Sunday in the Park with George and The Somewhere Soloist in Bernstein's West Side Story. In 2008, Rachel was a member of the Vocal Company of the College Light Opera Company in West Falmouth, MA, where she performed such roles as Fredrika Armfeldt in Sondheim's A Little Night Music and Marie in Porter's Can Can. Rachel was a four-year recipient of the Miriam L Wolfe Grant for Outstanding Musicians, as well as the Bell Grant for Excellence in Music from Arizona State University. She was also a four-year Dean's Scholarship recipient for her academic excellence.

Rachel is also an active runner, knitter and crossword puzzle enthusiast.